Newman, who started ninth in the 12-car field in the main event, nudged Andretti from the lead with six of 75 laps remaining and held to take the win at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway on Saturday.
It’s the first victory for the NASCAR veteran in the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) Series.
“A really special night to win here tonight at Stafford. Amazing night for me in the SRX Series,” Newman said. “For Bruton Smith and his family, this is special. For Bryan Clauson and his family, we got to park it in Victory Lane.
“To beat the best between Marco (Andretti) and Paul (Tracy), Tony (Stewart) and all the guys that are a part of this deal. It’s so special to be a part of and then to beat them. I’m so honored to be a part of it and look forward to three more.”
Andretti finished second followed by Paul Tracy in third. Ryan Hunter-Reay won Heat 1 and Bobby Labonte won Heat 2.
“Ryan did the bump, the same thing that everybody is going to try to do to win the race. He did it with perfect amount of laps left,” Andretti said. “I was screaming on the radio because I was driving blind, I didn’t know how many laps left to go, so I missed timed that.
“Overdrove, wheel-hopped it at the end, but I’m learning so much from these Cup guys. They are just too good.”
The six-race series now heads to Nashville (Tenn.) Fairgrounds on Saturday. Local ringer Cole Williams will join Tony Stewart, Andretti, Greg Biffle, Hunter-Reay, Labonte, Newman, Tracy, Michael Waltrip, Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves, Matt Kenseth and Nashville native Josef Newgarden.
The action kicks off at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and will stream live on Paramount+.
Main Event Results at Stafford Motor Speedway
1. Ryan Newman
2. Marco Andretti
3. Paul Tracy
4. Tony Stewart
5. Bobby Labonte
6. Hailie Deegan
7. Ryan Hunter-Reay
8. Matt Hirschman
9. Justin Marks
10. Greg Biffle
11. Bill Elliott
12. Michael Waltrip
